President Donald Trump held a rally in Dubuque on Sunday, Nov. 1, two days before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress, throwing his support behind Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and the GOP ticket in Iowa.
The Dubuque stop was the first of two rallies Trump planned for the day. He headed next to Salina, Kansas, to boost incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in what has become the most expensive Senate race in Kansas history.
A packed arena in Dubuque
Hours before the president took the stage, supporters filled the arena. Wendy Kuenzler, a 44-year-old veterinarian from Burlington, voted Saturday and drove up for her first chance to see Trump in person. She said she is backing Hinson for Senate without hesitation.
Kuenzler said Trump is not to blame for high gas and grocery prices, adding: He's on the path to correcting it.
Jon Lutz, a 60-year-old civil engineer from Dubuque, said he plans to vote a straight Republican ticket on Tuesday. He wants Republicans to keep the House and Senate so Trump's agenda can continue.
He's done what he's said he's going to do, Lutz said. I want him to keep going.
Trump told the crowd he watched the Iowa Hawkeyes win their football game Saturday and predicted we're going to have a much bigger win on Tuesday, according to AP NEWS.
Trump praises Hinson on the stump
Trump used the rally to praise Hinson's Senate bid, telling supporters she put herself in shape through discipline rather than weight loss drugs. He contrasted her effort with his own, joking: Me, I put on a couple of pounds.
The comment continued a string of remarks Trump has made this campaign about the appearance of Republican candidates, and it drew cheers from the Dubuque crowd.
Why Iowa matters for the Senate
Republicans are fighting to hold their Senate majority, and the Iowa seat Hinson is seeking sits at the center of that fight. The 2nd Congressional District, which includes Dubuque, has also become competitive as the GOP works to protect a fragile House majority, according to The Star.
Trump's import tariffs have disrupted the agricultural economy and triggered a trade war with Canada, putting Republicans on defense in Senate races across the Midwest, including Iowa, AP NEWS reported. Farmers and grain handlers in the state have felt the squeeze directly, and Democrats have tried to make pocketbook pain the deciding issue.
Trump's political groups have spent nearly $277 million to boost Republicans since September, a pace that would make this the most expensive midterm election ever, according to AP's reporting.
Republicans see momentum in the final days
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson traveled with Trump to Iowa and said Republicans are closing strong. Johnson also addressed the surprise endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers by Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in that state's Senate race.
I've spoken to her, encouraged her to stay safe and keep speaking the truth and I think she's doing that very well, Johnson said. She's always been very thoughtful. She loves her state.
Trump praised Stevens on Truth Social, calling her a Highly Respected Democrat and saying her backing of Rogers showed a thing called bravery. It was a sharp turn from August, when he called her a Radical Left Socialist after she lost the Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed.
The endorsement stunned Democratic leaders days before the election. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it a despicable betrayal, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Stevens had dangerously chosen to betray Michigan families. Stevens said her decision was more a statement about standing together against hate than anything else, and she plans to vote for other Democrats on the ballot, according to ABC News.
Kansas race breaks spending records
In Salina, Trump campaigned for Marshall, who faces Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton. Hamilton is trying to become the first Democrat to win a Kansas Senate seat in 94 years.
Dollars have poured into the race at a record pace. Democrats have spent $62 million on television and digital ads, while Marshall and Republican groups have spent $43 million, bringing total ad spending to $105 million, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Trump ally, also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Bluestem Fund over an offer of a gift card in exchange for voting, saying it violates federal and state law. A Wichita voter alerted his office to the offer, which Kobach called brazen.
What happens Tuesday
Polls close across Iowa on Election Day, and Trump's closing message to the Dubuque crowd was simple: show up. Some voters, like restaurant owner Liz Wagner, who traveled 165 miles from Atchison, Kansas, to the Salina rally, said they plan to vote in person on Tuesday.
That's what the U.S. needs to go back to, one day to vote, Wagner said.
With control of the Senate and House hanging in the balance, the results in Iowa and Kansas could determine whether Trump's agenda advances or stalls over the next two years.